


Papaoutai

by Faiz



Series: Lessons in Domesticity [8]
Category: Power Rangers Dino Charge
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-10
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2018-03-22 05:08:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3716296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faiz/pseuds/Faiz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Facing a dad can be one of the hardest things you can do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I felt like writing angsty things so that's happening. Woops.

_“Chase, love, please go to your room.”_

_“But mum, daddy is almost home…”_

_“Chase please, go to your room.”_

_The small four year old allowed his mum to usher him back to his bedroom and tuck him into bed, even though they both knew that it was way too early even for Chase to be going to bed. His mum smiled kindly at him, but there was something else in her eyes as she locked the door. He could just see a split second of his mum’s face as the gentle smile slid off her face and the door closed with a click. Chase immediately flung off the blankets and climbed out of his bed and walked towards his bedroom door._

_He pressed his ear against the door, and he could hear the sound of the front door being opened. He desperately wanted to open the door so he could go greet his daddy, but he could hear his mum and daddy’s voices growing steadily louder as they began to argue. Chase realized why his mum didn’t want him to greet his dad. He had done something bad again, like he had the other day, and the day before that. He could fear tears welling up in his eyes. His mum wouldn’t tell him what his daddy did wrong, because if she did then Chase would try and talk to him._

_He kept hearing his mum yelling something about a baby, how his dad had to think of the baby. He wasn’t sure if she was referring to him or to something else._

_But the yelling died down like it always did, and Chase quickly unlocked the door, scrambled back into his bed,pulled the covers up to his chin and closed his eyes, pretending like he was asleep in time to hear the door creak open and for someone to walk in. He cracked his eyes open to see his dad._

_“Daddy?”_

_“Sorry, did I wake you up?” He asked kindly, very different from the voice Chase had heard outside as he sat down on the edge of his bed._

_Chase shook his head and sat up. “Are you and mum okay?”_

_His dad grimaced at that, but kissed Chase’s forehead. “We just had a bit of a row, nothing bad.” He stood up. “Chase, how do you feel about having siblings?”_

_Chase stared at his dad before shrugging. “I guess? Am I getting a little brother or sister?” is that why his mum kept repeating something about a baby?_

_His dad nodded. “Don’t tell your mum I told you, she wanted it to be a surprise.”_

_“Oh…” Chase nodded, and his dad smiled at him before closing the door behind him._

_That was the last time Chase saw his dad. His mum acted like nothing was out of place as the days stretched out longer and longer and his dad still never showed up. Then they had to move out of their house into a little flat, and Chase had to sell half of his toys. His mum had to drag him to the new house as he cried and cried for his daddy and kicked and punched as much as he could at his mum. He wanted everything to go back to normal, like it was before. He wanted to see his daddy again even though he knew now that his daddy wasn’t coming back._

_It wasn’t until he was well into high school did he even remember that he never got a sibling either._

“How do you even live with so many people surrounding you?” Riley asked, looking around neighborhood as they walked down the streets. “And why are you always walking around with your skateboard even if you’re going to walk?” He added jokingly, lightly tapping the skateboard in Chase’s arm.

“I swear, you ask the same thing in Amber Beach. You’re just not pleased unless you live in the middle of nowhere and your only neighbors are pigs.” Chase joked, wrapping an arm over Riley’s shoulders. “And because it gives me cool points.”

“Oh, cool points huh? And not just pigs, pigs and horses. Some cows, and chickens too. And Rubik of course.” Riley corrected, grinning at him. 

“Oh, well I apologize then, Mr. Ranch boy. We can’t all live in the beautiful countryside as you do.”

Riley shook his head. “It’s really pretty here in New Zealand though, even if you do live in a city. I don’t think my family’s ranch is anything compared to this.”

Chase leaned in and kissed Riley on the forehead. “Your place is perfect. You get to be all wild and free when you’re at home.”

Riley laughed, but stumbled slightly as Chase stopped suddenly. “Chase? What’s wrong?”

Riley looked up at Chase’s stoic face and he followed Chase’s gaze to the house that he and his mum were living in, and that they were standing in front of. There was an older man standing in front of it, just staring at the door.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Chase called out, his hand sliding off of Riley’s shoulder as his stepped forward to face the man. “Didn’t you fuck off and become a tree or something?” 

“Chase, who is that?” Riley asked quietly, but Chase didn’t respond.

The man turned around in surprise before grinning in what was meant to be in a friendly fashion. “Chase, long time no see! Last time I saw you, you were only about this big!” The man said, holding his hand down low to indicate a height.

“Well yeah, you never saw me because you decided to shoot through and leave me and my mum alone to fend for ourselves.”

His dad waved his hand, as if he were just brushing off a small mistake. “But I’m here now, aren’t I? And look at you, you still have the skateboard I gave you for your fourth birthday.” He grinned at Chase, who recoiled.

He tightened his grip on the skateboard.“Only because we never had the money to buy a different one.” 

His dad just nodded, and his eyes slid over to Riley, whose face went red at the sudden attention placed on him. This man didn’t seem like a nice man, not like his own dad. He just felt manipulative, and it was all in that smile.

“Who is this?” Chase’s dad asked, leaning forward towards Riley, lifting a hand up to drag a finger down Riley’s cheek. “Chase, I didn’t figure you’d grow up to be a fa--”

That was the snapping point for Chase. Before the word even left his mouth, Chase had lifted his hand up and punched his dad square in the jaw. His dad stumbled to the side, rubbing his jaw as Chase grabbed Riley by his sweater and dragged him behind him. Chase was glaring daggers at his own father.

“Leave.”

“That’s not something you can say to your own da--”

“You aren’t my fucking dad, my dad wouldn’t have fucking left when I was four!” Chase screamed at him. “Now go the fuck away before I call the fucking police, and leave my mum alone.” 

His dad wasn’t smiling anymore, he looked pissed off. He moved forward before Chase could react and grabbed him by the collar, throwing him forcibly onto the ground. “Ungrateful little fuck. I come back and this is how you greet me?”

He walked off, leaving Chase trying to regain his breath with his face in the dirt. Riley kneeled down next to him, lifting him up off the ground and onto his lap. “Chase...Chase are you okay?”

Chase couldn’t stop the tears that were falling down his cheeks, just like the first time his dad had left. He cursed and lifted his scraped hands up to his eyes and rubbed away the tears angrily. Riley didn’t know what to say. His dad was rarely home, but Riley always knew he’d come back. He always did. So he just ran his fingers through Chase’s hair as the Kiwi continued to sob and angrily wipe away the tears.

“I always hoped he’d come back.” Chase sputtered. “I took care of my fucking board stupidly hoping that he’d come back so I’d show him how well I’d taken care of it while he was gone.” 

Riley was quiet, looking at Chase.

“But now I don’t give a fuck anymore. He could go die for all I care. I don’t need him.” Chase sat up, rubbing away the last of his tears. “I have my mum still, and I have you.” Chase looked at Riley with so much need. “You and your weird southern family.”

Riley cracked a half-grin. “You’re always welcome with us.” He drew Chase back into his arms, and Chase buried his head into the crook of Riley’s neck, still shaking slightly. 

They both stayed like that, sitting in Chase’s yard as the shaking slowly stopped.


	2. Chapter 2

Chase sat at the very top of the slide for a few seconds, checking his phone to see that a new message had appeared. It was from his roommate, a Japanese exchange student named Midori, asking him where his shoes had gone. Chase laughed a bit, replying as he went down the slide. The other male had thrown them into the neighboring apartment yesterday while he was completely drunk. He tucked away his phone just as he reached the bottom and he straightened himself up, and Shelby had already appeared in front of him.

“Hey Chase, Ri--Oh, wait. He isn’t here with you?” Shelby asked, looking behind Chase.

“Nope, I ended up spending the weekend with my uni mates getting utterly plastered. He and Matt were going to do some brotherly outing or something.” Chase shrugged.

“Plastered? Aren’t you underage?” Shelby asked.

“Not in New Zealand!”

“...We’re in the US.”

Chase tapped Shelby on the nose, laughing as she swatted his hand away. “And I’m a University student, anyways did you need to talk to Riley or something?”

Shelby shook her head. “Nothing really, we were just texting awhile ago and he just suddenly stopped. He’s usually not one to point blank leave in the middle of a conversation. He’s not you.”

“Thanks.” Chase replied sarcastically as he pulled out his phone again when he felt it vibrate. It was doing it consistently, which meant is was actually a phone call, not a text (which wasn’t very common for Chase.) “Hello?”

Shelby watched him as his eyes grew wider, and the phone slowly slid out of his hands and landed on the floor with a loud thunk, and shatter lines spreading across the screen. “Chase?”

The Kiwi scrambled to pick up his phone and turned right around again. He only barely managed to utter out: “Riley...His-his dad.”

He had probably gone over the speed limit, but it didn’t matter as he approached where Riley was staying with his uncle Casey. He knocked on the door and was greeted by RJ, who for once didn’t look calm and collected as he normally did. For the first time Chase saw him sad. 

“You came here quickly.” Was all that he said as he stepped aside to let him through. 

“I had to.” 

He made a beeline to the guest bedroom that Riley and Matt were sharing, and he could already hear the sounds of crying. When he reached the doorway, he felt his heart clench. Riley was curled up in a little ball, being held tightly by his older brother. The green ranger was shaking from the tears, and when Matt looked up at Chase it wasn’t with the normal look of suspicion he always gave Chase. No, he looked so...empty. So void of anything, like he was still in shock.

Casey turned around when he heard Chase take a few steps in, and he stood up from the bed quietly, still holding a box of tissues. “That was fast, but I guess you would be.” He looked back at Matt and Riley.

“When did they find out?” Chase asked.

“Just a few hours ago. I knew something was up when Vivi called.” Casey sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “Neither Matt nor Riley were even home. I hate that I had to be the one to tell them. It should have been their mother.”

Chase didn’t know how to respond, but Casey clapped him on the shoulder and set the tissue box in his hands, saying something about needed to make something to eat for the boys since they hadn’t eaten in awhile. And so Chase was left alone with Riley and Matt. The older Griffin boy barely acknowledged him as he sat down on the edge of the bed, but Riley finally peaked his head up and Chase could see his eyes, red and puffy from the tears. Matt let his arms slide off his brother as Riley suddenly lunged forward into Chase’s arms. 

Chase wrapped his arms around Riley’s shoulders and looked up at Matt. “Y’alright?” A stupid thing to ask. Of course he wasn’t.

“Hm.” Matt shrugged, before shuffling out of the room. 

Chase looked back down. “Riley?”

He didn’t know what else he could say at this point. His situation and Riley’s had always been so different. Chase’s dad just up and left him and his mum. Riley’s dad had been in the military. While Chase knew that he was probably never going to see his father again, Riley probably spent most of his life convincing himself that his dad was always going to come back home safe and sound. 

Except this time, he didn’t.

Chase could feel his shirt getting wet, before Riley finally looked up at him again. “Please tell me this is a dream, that this is all a dream. I don’t want this to be real, I just...I just want to wake up now.”

“Love…” Chase hugged Riley tighter. “I wish I could say it really was a dream.”  
Riley squeezed his eyes shut. “I know. I know, I know.”

“Do you need to get out of here for a little bit?”

Riley nodded his head vigorously. Luckily he was still properly dressed from whatever he was doing before he had arrived home, so he quickly rubbed away the tears from his eyes and clasped his hand with Chase’s. His hair was still standing on end and it was still pretty obvious he was crying from his slight shaking and his eyes. But he tried to look determined for Chase, as they left the bedroom and towards the door. They both flinched when the heard the sound of smashing glass, and when they looked in the kitchen Matt was on the ground shaking in a puddle of water and glass. Casey was quick to start cleaning up and RJ ushered them out when he saw the look on Riley’s face. 

“Be careful you two.”

“B-but Matt--” Riley began wavering.

“Don’t worry about him, he’s fine. Casey is taking care of him. You need some air.” 

Chase and Riley were both silent as they walked through the streets, and Riley’s hand was gripping tightly to Chase’s as they approached the park nearby. There were no tears in Riley’s eyes now, but the look on his face told Chase enough. They both sat down on a bench overlooking a small park, and Chase wrapped an arm around Riley’s shoulder as the younger boy rested his head on Chase’s shoulder.

“You know…” Riley started, his voice still wavering slightly. “I guess in my mind I always figured that this might happen. Though I never really wanted it to. My Ma said that Matt and I were always like him, half of the time we always ran head first into situations without properly thinking it through. Hero complex, she said.” He gave a tiny smile. “I ran at Fury because he was going to hurt my dog, even if my only weapon was a metal pole that I had grabbed. So I think dad…” He faltered. “I think he probably went how he wanted to, protecting someone.”

He hung his head, and Chase tightened his grip on Riley’s shoulder. “I’m sure your dad was a great bloke. If he knew you were a ranger, he’d be cheering you on.”

Riley let out a choked laugh. “You kidding? He’d want to join us. He won’t want to be left out on the action.” He held up his fist in a victory pose. “The Griffin Rangers, a family business!”

Riley uncurled his fist and let it fall back onto his lap, looking out at the young kids playing with their parents in the park, thinking back to when his dad would be home from deployment, running after both Matt and Riley even though he was tired. But he grinned through it, because he was just happy to be home with his boys. He wouldn’t doubt that his dad would be proud to know that both he and Matt were doing their best to do the same thing he wanted to. Riley closed his eyes and let his head fall back onto Chase’s shoulder, his boyfriend’s quiet breathing calming him a bit more. “Chase?”

“Mm?”

“Will you come back with me? To the ranch? For the...all the...everything I mean.”

“Of course.” He felt Chase’s hand start rubbing his shoulder. “If you need me, I’ll be there.”

“Thank you.”

They sat like that for awhile longer, and even though tears were starting to fall from Riley’s eyes again, he really did know his dad would be proud of him. He wouldn’t want him to stay sad forever. They had a world to save, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made myself sad. Again.


End file.
